A Single Spark

12 year old Christina Hollingsworth is queen of the school. She has a ton of friends and a humungous mansion. She always brags about her huge house and loves how it is so far away from the other homes - "It's soooo private compared to your house Madison!" is just an example. But she comes home one day from a bragging session at school to find her house burned down to the ground. Then comes the worst. The firefighters tell her and her family that the cause of the fire was a curling iron that was left on. And Christina realizes it was her fault. When the family's insurance company goes bankrupt, they are out on the streets. Can Christina get her life back? And can she convince her recently ex-friends to forgive her for everything she has done to put them down?

2. Ruling the School

At school, I was so popular. I had tons of friends. But some people were just my friends because they wanted to be "in". Back then, my hobby was putting people down. I was really terrible in my grade school years. But one day, some brave girl dared to say she didn't like the way I treated people. And everything changed. Fast.

*****

I was walking through the halls with my group of cool girls. But they weren't as cool as me. At least that's what I had thought and made them believe. As we walked, kids cleared a pathway in the hall. I was worshipped. Isn't that terrible? I strutted into my classroom, sidekicks right beside me, who had their noses in the air, glaring at anyone who got in the way. I sat down on my chair, surveying the room. I spotted a girl with a huge pink bow in her hair. She was wearing a poofy skirt and a ruffly purple top.

Ooooh, no. I thought. That does not work for me.

So, looking around to make sure the teacher still hadn't arrived yet, I got up and started to walk over to confront her. As I made my way across the room, a girl accidently dropped her water bottle in front of me. She went totally pale. I paused mid-step and looked at her menacingly. She trembled in her seat. I stuck my head to a high, proud position and, without looking at the bottle, kicked it across the room. It hit a wall and dropped to the floor, slowly leaking onto the carpet. Paying no attention to the growing puddle of water, I continued to walk over to the pink and purple covered girl. I stopped in front of her desk, and turned to look at her.

"What is that?" I growled, pointing to her tutu-like skirt.

"It's my, it's my-" I held up my pointer finger and she was quiet instantly.

I stood, looking blankly at the door. Then I quickly dashed over to my desk and sat down like lightning. I knew the drill. I had to do this frequently; a teacher would come in in the middle of a lecture to an uncool kid. I almost made it in time, but the teacher came in as I was sitting down.

"Christina," she said. "Were you out of your seat just now?"

"Yes Mrs. Wilson, but I was just telling that girl over there (I didn't care to remember what people's names were) how much I love her outfit," I fibbed.

"Oh, sorry dear!" the teacher replied, embarrassed.

"Um, Mrs. Wilson, can I go down to the office?"

It was the girl with the big skirt.

"Of course honey!" she said sweetly.

The student ran out of the room. I smirked, feeling very accomplished.

*****

The next day, I bumped into someone in the hall. As she walked away, I heard her say something to her friend about me.

I think she said something like, "She is so mean and snotty."

What!!! Who is she to call me mean and snotty? That was what I had thought. It all went downhill from there. The girl's friend started talking bad about me to her friends, and then they talked to their friends, and soon almost everyone who wasn't "in" was saying mean things about me. I was boiling. All the respect for me was being washed away. I didn't want my social life to change! I liked having people make their life goal to be my friend! I had to do something. I at least had to keep my cool-kid friends. So I bragged a lot more to them, thinking that would make them like me more. They were so caught up in wanting to be my overall best friend, that they begged me to tell them more about my fabulous life. So I did. And they listened to every word. I didn't stop until they made the special daily announcement that my limo had arrived. The principal was so out of her mind, thinking that if she treated me like royalty, she might get a limo ride home to her house. Wow.

So when the intercom came on and said, "Christina Hollingsworth, your limousine is waiting!" I walked down the steps to my sleek black car.

I rode home, telling my driver to go faster as we drove down the lane to my beautiful mansion.